well pleased and well pleasing. So enter among My servants. And enter My Paradise” [al-Fajr: 27–30]. As for the soul that commands evil, it is mentioned in the words of Allah Most High: “I do not absolve my own soul, for the soul certainly commands evil, except those upon whom my Lord has mercy” [Yūsuf: 53]. As for the self-reproaching soul, it is mentioned in the words of Allah Most High: “I swear by the Day of Resurrection, and I swear by the self-reproaching soul” [al-Qiyāmah: 1–2].
A person experiences these souls within himself. At times, he finds within himself an inclination toward good: he loves good and does it. This is the tranquil soul. At other times, he finds within himself an inclination toward evil and commits it. This is the soul that commands evil. Then comes the self-reproaching soul, which reproaches him for what he has done, and so he regrets the sin he committed. There is also another kind of self-reproach that censures him for the good he has done. Some people may reproach themselves for doing good and keeping company with righteous people, saying, “Why should I associate with these people who have kept me from my way of life, my desires, my amusements,” and the like.
Thus, the self-reproaching soul sometimes reproaches the soul that commands evil and at other times reproaches the tranquil soul. In reality, it is a soul between two souls: it reproaches the soul that commands evil when it commits evil and causes the person to feel remorse, yet it may also reproach the tranquil soul when it does good.
“Paradise will indeed be the abode.” Paradise is the home of bliss that Allah—Glorious and Exalted is He—has prepared for His allies. It contains what no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and what has never occurred to a human heart. Allah Most High says: “No soul knows what delights of the eyes are kept hidden for them” [al-Sajdah: 17]. This is stated in the Quran, while the divine hadith says: “I have prepared for My righteous servants what no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and what has never occurred to a human heart” (1).
A person becomes aware of this Paradise before he dies. When his appointed time comes and the angels summon the soul to depart, they say, “Come forth, O tranquil soul, to the pleasure of Allah” (2),